Fire escape



June 1o 1924. 1,497,534

J. D. BASS FIRE ESCAPE Filed Feb. 5. 1923 i my Fw. Z mf i m l n /z mf. /0 2 J .NC j@ 1 56 I .17 /E Z7 E j 6" l I :if fd@ f 5;, "g m9 72'23"] "I ZM EN w53 m 7f3 g s V El l Q O031000 K if i m 1M H m www ffm; ,25a wf MEM@ vm Patented .lune id, 1h24.

NITED STATES JAMES DANIEL BASS, OF PETERSBURG, VRGINIA.

man raschen.

Application filed February 5, 1923. Serial No. 617,128.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that ll, JAMES Drinnen Bess, a citizen of the United States, residing at letersluirg, in the county of Dinwiddie and State of TVirginia, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Fire Escapes, of which the following is a specilication. y

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for facilitating the escape of persons Vimprisoned by lire, and it consists in providing a special attachment by which the person in danger may conveniently and safely lower himself or herself from the upper stories of a building to a place of safety.

The invention comprises more especially the combination with a line fastened near the point of safety and leading downwards,

of a'` lowering device mounted on said line,v

with means for controlling the same by hand, and a harness attached to said lowering device adapted to go around the body of the user beneath the shoulders and support the same, leaving the users hands free to control the device.

My invention will be more fully understood after reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are indicated by similar reference symbols throughout the several views, and in which Figure l is a sectional elevation of the,

apparatus omitting the harness, the section being taken along the line l--l of Figure 2;

Figure 2 shows a section along the line Qn of Fig. l, with the harness in the disengaged or open position, and

Figure 3 shows a section along the line lm-3 of Fig. 1, and looking down.

A represents the safety rope which is provided with the eye ci. adapted to engage a hook or other fastening means, not shown, and the said line should be long enough to reach or nearly reach the ground.

B represents a housing block through which the line is rove, and to which the harness is connected. rlhis housing block consists of two separable members B and B2 connected together in any convenient way, as by the screw bolts C.

The two members B and B2 are provided as at Z" and lf* with reduced portions forming handles, to be gripped by the operator, as will be hereinafter described. rlhe housing block is provided with a central chamber B0 which is preferably cir- 'lhis block l) is preferably tlanged, asat al,

so as to guide the rope towards the center thereof, and the rope takes one or more turns around the block, but a single turn is preferable.

Pivoted to the pin E on opposite sides of the housing l5; are two brackets G. Attached to these brackets are the straps l-l to which the belt H is connected,` as shown inost clearly in Fig. 2. This belt is shown open in said ligure, but when in use would obviously pass around the body of the wearer beneath the shoulders and would be securely buckled to the wearer.

ln order toprevent the part-y escaping from descending too rapidly, l provide brakes which are normally pressed into engagement by springs, but which may be released by hand if desired, or the action of the springs may be supplemented or increased by hand, if desired.

M represents the brake operating at the upper end of the housing B (see Fig. l), and M represents the brake operating at the lower end of the housing. These brakes are in the forni of reversely disposed hand levers 'la and m pivoted to the housing B, respectively, at m2 and m3, and having their engaging ends m4 and m5 connected to the plungers fa and m7 carrying the brake shoes nis and m9, which shoes are normally pressed inwards to engage the rope A by suitable springs N. The upper and lower ends of the housing B are provided with reduced portion h3 and ht Fig. 2), which serve as hand grips, and the escaping party can conveniently grip one of these with each hand and simultaneously control one or both of the brake levers, as desired.

Special attention is called to the positive action of the brakes. "he instant a person is suspended by the device, his or her weight will immediately cause a complete lock of the brake, the heavier the weight suspended, the tighter will be the pull on the rope, and

the more firmly will the brakes be applied.

the brakes.

Anyondeven-a delicate person or a child,

may y,operate the bralre levers iby gently pressing in on the handles.

Theoperation of thedevice is as follows: The eye agbeing secured to the windowsill, or other convenient tired object, not shown.

the housing block B and the parts carried thereby, together with the safety rope A being .stored away lin `the room Ytrom which the escape is to be made, the escaping party throws the tree end of the rope out ot the window, puts on the belt and steps out of the window and becomes .suspended in the air by the harness referred to. The brakes `will prevent the housing 4block from descending, and if while descending the user wishes to make more speed he presses in one or both ofthe `brake levers, releasing vone or both `ot the brakes and .speeding up his descent.

Iffhewishesto stop, by relieving the pressure on the brake handle, the device will immediately stop.

It lwill 4be noted that `the rounded shoulders and b2 willaiord frictional surfaces .again-st which the rope will-bind, and `fric`- tion will bestill further increased by the application of the brake.

It is intended that the springs N shall be sufficiently strong to positively .set the brake and vthus prevent dangerous speed to the party descending. The binding zperfect oi the rope in paying out'would also be increased by pulling by hand downward on the rope below the housing B, thus enhanci-ng'the braking eect of the brake spool D. YVhile I have shown an :embodiment ot the invention in the preferred torni, it will be obvious Athat `various -niodiiications might be made in the apparatus, and various changes made in the construction, combination and arrangement oit' parts which could be `used without ideparting from the spirit through said S-shaped passages and the openings in the handles` brake shoes mov ably mounted in the block adjacent the handles, strongsprings in the block normally acting on the brake shoes to bind the cable' tightly against the, walls ot the passages to .avoid movement-Lof the block along the cable,

and lreleasing means coupled to `said brake shoesand .extending alongside the handles ,position to .be grasped `by the hands ot the person in the act of holding to the han-- dies whereby to ease `the brake shoes away from the cable ,only during pressure of the hands on said means.

2. A tire` escape comprising ablocli in two longitudinal parts with a central chamber Vand `tortuous passages extending above and below Athechamber and exposed on the `scparation of the parts` a hollow handle proj ecting above and below the block in connection interiorly with the passages, a drum fixed against rotation in said chamber, a cable rove round said drum and lying through the tortuous passages and hollow handles, means for supporting a person Afrom the block in position to grasp both handles.` a :brake lshoe in each passage placed to bind the cable at curved parts thereof, strongr springs behind the brake shoes normally tending to .hold the block against sliding down the cable. without attention of the person, and levers coupled to said brake shoes and lying alongside said handles to be grasped and squeezed against the handles in the act of holding to the handles whereby to diminish and release the pressure of the shoes on the cables.

JAMES DANlEL BASS. 

